Key Theory - Andrew Goodwin

ANALYSIS OF MUSIC VIDEO: MIKA - WE ARE GOLDEN

" The video is joyful but there is this desperation in there. It's like a ceremony where this boy in his bedroom is begging the world to love him." - Mika

1) Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band)

The genre of Mika's music is pop. Therefore the video uses bright, bold colours and at some points florescent ones. The video is performance based, which is typical of pop videos. Mika does a lot of dancing and leaping around, mainly in his underpants. It is generally a lot of fun and also makes references to a particular time; the

2) There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting, etc)

The visuals amplify on the lyrics although at some points they also illustrate the lyrics. Illustration is hsown when for instance the line is 'Running around like a clown on purpose' and Mika is actually running around the room and on his bed. At other points, Mika is trying on different things and posing which amplifies the lyrics.

3) There is a relationship between music and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting, etc)

The visuals are illustrative of the music as the video is edited to the beat. The editing is therefore at points fast to compliment the upbeat song.

4) The demands of the records label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist (visual hooks) and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style). These include a close-up of the star's face (the 'money shots'), iconography of band image, visual trademarks/motifs.

There are use of close-ups in this video although there are not that many. This may be beacuse Mika is already an establihed pop singer and therefore does not need to be sold to his audience. Also, the video is very much about movement and therefore more wider shots are used to show Mika leaping around and to get the iconography of the video in as this is very important.

Mika has developed an individual visual style and a theme can be seen to run through all his music videos. They are all colourful and bright and he has also used the screens in at least one other video for the song 'Love Today'. His videos tend to be performance based and he often does a lot of dancing but never to a specific routine. His individual look is also distinct as he often wears skinny jeans in bright colours with colourful tops or shirts.

5) There is frequently reference to the notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

At some points in the video there is a sense of voyeaurism as with screens within screens as can be seen in the image below.

This video can be seen to challenge pop music videos that usually use scopaphilic camera shots in their treatment of the female body. Although Mika doesn't wear much in parts of the video except for his underpants, the video does not use scopophilic shots of his body as he is reliving his youth in the video and therefore it is given a more playful boyyish tone rather than a sexual one.

6) There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos, etc)